Blackhawks: Corey Crawford to start over Scott Darling in Game 2

Blackhawks: Corey Crawford to start over Scott Darling in Game 2

NASHVILLE – Coach Joel Quenneville said it was going to be an easy decision.

Scott Darling had played masterfully in relief of Corey Crawford in Game 1, stopping 42 shots as the Blackhawks came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in double overtime. Quenneville praised the backup goalie for playing that well in a pressure-filled situation.

But Crawford is the No. 1 goaltender. He’s the guy who’s gotten the Blackhawks to this point. And he’s the guy who will be back in goal the next game.

Crawford will start on Friday when the Blackhawks face the Predators in Game 2 of their first-round series. Quenneville said there was a difficult choice in all of this, but it had nothing to do with figuring out who would start on Friday.

“It was probably tougher to pull him out last night,” Quenneville said. “He’s our starting goalie, he’s been our strength all year long. It was one [bad] period, one collectively as a team, goaltending all the way out through forwards. We look forward to him getting back in tomorrow. This [decision] was easy.”

Crawford was one of the first Blackhawks to skate over to Darling and congratulate him on his relief appearance. He said Wednesday’s benching will not affect him as he prepares for Friday.

“It’s the same as it always is,” Crawford said. “That was a tough period. Those things happen. I got a free pass off it; the guys played wellafter and Darls was awesome. It’s nice to get a win after leaving a game like that.”

Crawford was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots in the first period, when the Predators took a 3-0 lead. It wasn’t all on Crawford. The second goal fell on him but the Blackhawks, who were a mess in front of him for the first 20 minutes, didn’t help. Still, the Blackhawks needed a spark, so the change was made. It’s not an unusual move in the regular season; in the playoffs, however, it’s a bold one.

“There [are] probably a lot of reasons that might go into it, but I felt at that stage, you’re down three nothing, they scored two late goals in the period, let’s do something different,” Quenneville said. “Let’s try something and it turned out that Scott Darling came in and played one of those games you’ll never forget.”

Crawford usually responds well when he’s had mediocre-to-bad outings. He called himself out in last year’s first round after playing poorly vs. St. Louis in Game 2. He recorded a shutout in Game 3. Crawford played a big part in the Blackhawks’ success this season. He’ll look to get back to that on Friday.

“You have to have a short memory as a goalie. There are a lot of crazy things that happen, bad goals or whatever. It’s all part of the game and really you have to always be thinking of the next shot and not let whatever happened bother you,” Crawford said. “I’ve learned a lot in my career, had a lot of stuff happen before. Things like this, they happen once in a while. You just have to keep battling and keep working hard.”

Blackhawks edge out Senators in shootout: 'It was really nice to get a win'

AP

Blackhawks edge out Senators in shootout: 'It was really nice to get a win'

It was a rare sight to see the Blackhawks in a shootout on Wednesday night.

It was just the second time this season — and first time at the United Center — that the Blackhawks made it past 3-on-3 overtime.

The last came on Dec. 2, 2017, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Stars in Dallas. On Wednesday night, the Blackhawks were on the other end, beating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a seven-round shootout. Nick Schmaltz netted the game-winner.

"We'll take it," coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we had a decent game tonight. Overtime not so good, I liked the shootout victory, Fors made some big saves for us particularly as the game got deeper. Our third was OK, I thought our first two were way better, and overtime we gave up some high quality, some bells were rings for a bit there. But it was nice to see the shootout win."

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, recording another multi-point game, his 16th of the season.

"I mean we need every point we can get at this point," Kane said. "There's still belief in this locker room. Obviously we need to go on quite a run and have a big record here down the stretch. But take it a game at a time and nice to get two points."

Anton Forsberg was a big reason the Blackhawks even recorded those two points. The 25-year-old netminder stopped 34 of 36 shots and made a handful of big saves down the stretch.

"It was really nice to get a win for sure," Forsberg said. "I would love to have a lot more wins, but right now just gotta look forward and get as many wins as possible."

Added Quenneville: "I think it was good for him to win a game the way he did. Lot of shots were on the line, as we progressed, got deeper, hitting the point first was big for him and for us and then finding a way to get the extra one was a good win."

Three Things to Watch: Blackhawks collide with Senators

Three Things to Watch: Blackhawks collide with Senators

Here are Three Things to Watch when the Blackhawks take on the Ottawa Senators tonight on NBC Sports Chicago and streaming live on the NBC Sports app. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. with Blackhawks Pregame Live.

1. Trade chips.

The Blackhawks have reached the point in their season where they have no choice but to become sellers before the Feb. 26 deadline, and we saw that when they traded Michal Kempny to the Washington Capitals on Monday for a conditional third-round pick in 2018. Tommy Wingels could also be an attractive piece for a team looking to fill out their depth.

The Senators will definitely be sellers, and wow do they have some names potentially on the market that can fetch large returns: Derrick Brassard and Mike Hoffman are two players who log top-six minutes on a nightly basis and also have term left on their contract, which is great for teams looking to load up for this year and beyond.

The biggest name to watch, probably in the league altogether, is Erik Karlsson, who could be on the move if a team offers a big enough package for the Senators to pull the trigger now as opposed to in the offseason if they feel him re-signing is a long shot. He was the best defenseman last season, and if a team steps up to get him, they're getting two possible postseason runs out of him.

2. Artem Anisimov's experiment at left wing not working.

Joel Quenneville has tried rekindling the magic between Anisimov, Nick Schmaltz and Patrick Kane as of late, only this time Anisimov is playing the wing and it just hasn't been very effective. The trio was on the ice for each of the two 5-on-5 goals the Kings scored on Monday, and Anisimov completely lost his man on the first one.

It's important to establish a consistent left winger for Schmaltz and Kane, and maybe putting Alex DeBrincat up there is something you consider going forward as part of a long-term solution. Move Anisimov back down as the third-line center to play in more of a defensive role and continue using his big body on power plays for his offensive abilities might be the best bet.

3. Win the special teams battle.

In their last meeting against Ottawa on Jan. 9, the Blackhawks went 4-for-6 on the power play and 4-on-4 on the penalty kill in an 8-2 win. And those are two areas to look out for again.

The Senators own the 28th-ranked power play with a 16.1 percent success rate and 29th-ranked penalty kill with a 74.5 percent success rate. Get ready for another offensive outburst?